Media Contacts

STAFF

Jerry Cantrell

Jerry Cantrell is President of the Common Sense Institute of New Jersey (CSI•NJ), bringing his private-sector experience, and lifetime commitment to improving public policy to the Institute.

Jerry has more than 30 years of business experience in the information technology and aerospace fields, including the founding and operating of a healthcare information systems venture.

Mr. Cantrell has served as president/founder of The New Jersey Taxpayers Association since 2004. The organization is a statewide nonpartisan, nonprofit grass-roots organization dedicated to achieving real and sustainable tax reform in New Jersey. Its goal is to improve the quality of life in New Jersey, for all its citizens, by holding our elected officials and administrators personally accountable for sound fiscal management of governmental institutions, organizations and precious tax dollars. NJTA is committed to Excellence in Government while ensuring that elected officials are fulfilling their fiduciary responsibilities to the state and local institutions and the citizenry at large.

As an outgrowth of the grass-roots efforts, a separate coalition of business and civic organizations was formed in the winter of 2008 when 14 organizations came together to form The New Jersey Taxpayers Alliance.

Jerry has also served as community activist for a local property tax organization (Sanely Tax Our Properties – STOP), Randolph Parents for Gifted and Talented Education and is a past president of the Randolph, NJ, Board of Education, where he resides with his wife and two children.

FELLOWS AND SCHOLARS

Mark ‘Jay’ Williams

MARK “JAY” WILLIAMS is the Economics Fellow of the Common Sense Institute of New Jersey, where he utilizes his extensive background in scientific policy analysis, visual analytics, and cognitive sciences. Jay conducts research and writes about public economics issues regarding education, higher education, and local government, with a specific focus on accountability and measurement systems.

Jay’s research on public school metrics has been utilized by Executive and Legislative departments, commissions, and task forces, and he has been an advisor to recent Governor’s task force on non-public school funding. His research is at the forefront of quantitative measurement methodology, and he has introduced new dialogue on non-linear dynamics, complexity science, and robust adaptive policy, into current policy discussions.

Jay is a former Fortune 100 executive for brand and product management, a Director of Research and Instruction for a large, urban school district in New Jersey and a Senior Director of a New Jersey public state college. His doctoral work is in econometrics and operations research.